Press Release: Great Expectations Recognizes ‘Model Schools’

NORMAN, okla. (July 31, 2014) – Great Expectations, a non-profit foundation that provides intensive professional development to teachers and administrators, announces its 2013-14 highest recognition: Model Schools. Based on Great Expectations theory implementation, there are three categories of recognition, including Transitional School, Progressive School and Model School.

To be named a Great Expectations Model School, over 90 percent of the teachers must successfully implement all of the classroom practices. The school’s principal must also model the classroom practices, and the school needs to serve as a standard that other administrators and educators can visit and learn from.

The Great Expectations training model is guided by six basic tenets and 17 classroom practices. The tenets and practices provide guidelines for program training and implementation, and they serve as standards for evaluating Great Expectations schools.

The basic tenets include:

High expectations

Teacher attitude and responsibility

Building self-esteem

All children can learn

Climate of mutual respect

Teacher knowledge and skill

“We strive to transform teachers’ lives and remind them why they began this profession in the first place,” said Linda Dzialo, Ph.D, president and CEO of Great Expectations. “The Model Schools achieve the greatest excellence and create supportive, nurturing environments. Put simply, these schools lead by example.”

Great Expectations instructors, who are educators themselves, model the learning strategies and community-building activities they use successfully in their own classrooms in order to train other educators.

More than 44,000 educators have attended Great Expectations training since 1991, and more than 250,000 students are taught by Great Expectations teachers every year. There are currently trained educators in 18 states in America, the Virgin Islands, Mexico and Japan.

For more information about Great Expectations Model Schools visit the schools page.

About Great ExpectationsGreat Expectations is a school transformation model that emphasizes a climate of mutual respect and academic excellence. Founded in 1991, the non-profit foundation provides intensive professional training to teachers and administrators that promote improved student self-esteem, attendance, discipline and parent participation – all of which result in improved student achievement. Great Expectations has a presence throughout Oklahoma and seven other states. For more information, visit www.greatexpectations.org.